The Going Green To $ave Green Podcast looks at AC Heat Pump combinations in the latest episode. New aggressive heat pump incentives for replacing oil furnaces make heat pumps a cost-efficient option to heat your home.
Since I first did the Going Green To $ave Green Video Series, h
eat pump technology has improved significantly with SEERs over 30 for cooling. Heating System Performance Factors, which measure their efficiency, are getting closer to the cost of heating your home with natural gas. I will be speaking to an expert in heat pumps to detail how a heat pump could be a viable alternative to a gas furnace soon.
NRCAN introduced 100% incentives for homeowners with less than a median income last week. The reduced cost of heating your home with a heat pump makes the removal of an oil furnace, new or old, obvious. Furnace oil costs $1.50/l, making it $0.16 – $0.19/kWh equivalent to heat your home. With the average cost for electricity at $0.145/kWh in Canada, furnace oil is more expensive than electric heat.
Heat pumps, which can use the refrigeration cycle to create more heat than the electrical power used, can be around the cost of a gas furnace. Heat is provided for $0.04 – $0.06/kWh equivalent. Per Efficiency Nova Scotia a 1700 ft² home can cost $4000/yr to heat with furnace oil. That is considerably more than the $1200 I spend on my 2000 ft² in Ontario. 
As always, I am looking for a partner to sponsor a k-12 home energy audit competition to foster a conservation culture in North America. The plan, kids to watch the video series, listen to the podcasts, and target energy savings initiatives in their own homes. That way, market forces, and saving green will encourage all people to reduce their environmental footprint.